Amazing Homemade Strawberry Jam

Here in Iowa the strawberry plants look lush and healthy and are blooming as I write this. Homemade strawberry jam is a staple in our home. It is easy to make and worth making from scratch. Yes, you can buy it in the store, but in all seriousness, there’s just no comparison. Homemade strawberry jam is so much better than what can be bought in the grocery store. It’s really easy to make. You just need the right equipment and some really good locally grown or homegrown strawberries.

If you don’t grow your own, visit the local farmer’s market or do a web search to find pick-your-own strawberry farms near you. Kids LOVE picking strawberries and are dazzled that they can be made into their favorite jam. They also really enjoy being part of the process and are so proud that they helped make something the family can enjoy throughout the year. When they get the jar of homemade jam out of the refrigerator, or if you send them to get a jar to open from the pantry, they’ll talk happily about the day they went to pick the strawberries or helped make the jam in the jar. Strawberry jam is good for the soul and kids treasure memories of making jam with mom.

Equipment Needed

Jars – pint or half-pint or .5 liter or .25 liter sizeWeck jars. I LOVE Weck jars. Every part of the jar is reusable, they are useful and pretty around the house, and they’re beautiful. For jams choose .5 liter size or .25 liter sizeMason jars – the American standard for home canning. Stick will Ball or Kerr brand Mason jars. Avoid any Mason jars made in China (they don’t have the shoulder at the top for grabbing with the jar lifter and they break easily. Choose half-pint size or pint size.

Water bath canner
Water bath canning is simply boiling jars filled with jam long enough to kill bacteria and make them safe for shelf storage. A water bath canner IS NOT a pressure canner and should never be used on foods low in acid that require pressure canning. If the only kind of canning you want to do is to make jams and jellies, then a water bath canner is sufficient.

Pressure canner, optional
If you are interested in canning more than jams and jellies, invest in a pressure canner. I’ve had this very one for years and it functions beautifully both as a water bath canner and a pressure canner saving storage space and money. I use it to preserve not only jams, but green beans, potatoes, corn, soups, and sauces.

Sure Grip Jar lifter.
This is the BEST jar lifter. It’s curved and grips the jars, especially Weck jars, much better than the lifters with straight tongs.

How to Make Amazing Strawberry Jam

Since I use Weck jars, the instructions for making jam will only include the use of Weck jars. The biggest difference is in the lids. Mason jar lids are to be boiled, then lifted out of the boiling water with a lid lifting magnet and placed on the jar, then the metal band is screwed on tightened with your hand and then the jar is placed in the water bath canner. This recipe makes about 5 half-liter jars of jam.

Choose your pectin

Pectin is the ingredient that “gels” or “sets” your jam. Different brands of pectin have different instructions as do different forms (powder or liquid). I use Certo Liquid Pectin because it consistently gives my jams a good set and they look pretty in the jar (we eat with our eyes first.) The directions in this post come from the Certo Liquid Pectin instructions for making jams and jellies which are included in every box of pectin.

Wash, stem, and puree 8 cups of fresh strawberries to make 5 cups of puree

I grow my own strawberries. There are so many to pick at once that rather than try to keep up with making jam as I harvest, I puree the berries in the food processor (a countertop blender or stick blender works as well) and measure the puree into freezer bags to freeze until I’m ready to make jam. We were down to one jar of strawberry jam in the pantry, so I went to my deep freeze and got a bag of strawberry puree pre-measured with 5 cups of puree for this recipe. Thaw the puree and use just like you would fresh strawberry puree.

Put the 5 cups of strawberry puree in a large stock pot and add 7 cups of white sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of butter (butter keeps the foam from forming when boiling the jam).

To your canner, add enough water to cover the jars, lids, and rubber sealing rings. Put the jars, lids, and sealing rings into the water in the canner and bring to a boil to sterilize.

With scissors, open 1 packet of Certo Liquid Pectin by cutting off the top of the envelope. Stand it up in a mug to be ready for when the puree, sugar, and butter are brought to a rolling boil. Then turn the burner heat on high and bring the puree, sugar, and butter to a rolling boil. Add the liquid pectin (get as much of it out of the envelope as you can by rolling the envelope from the bottom up like toothpaste) and stir it in. Stir continuously and keep jam liquid at a rolling boil for 1 minute. This is what a rolling boil looks like:

After boiling for one minute, remove the pot of liquid jam from the heat. I have a glass cooktop stove, so I place the hot pot onto a bamboo cutting board to stop the boiling. You can use a couple of layered towels if you don’t have a wooden cutting board.

Turn heat down on the burner with the canner so that you can reach in with the jar lifter to remove the jars. I set the hot jars on the cutting board next to the pot of liquid jam. You can use a couple of stacked towels if you don’t have a big, wooden cutting board.

Using the funnel, ladle hot jam liquid into the hot jars. Leave about a half inch of space from the top of the jar.

Remove the lids and rubber sealing rings from the hot water in the canner. Place the rubber sealing rings on the lids as shown. Then carefully place the lids on the jars and add 3 metal clamps to clamp the lid to the jar.

Using the jar lifter, place the filled jars into the canner and bring the water back to a boil. Boil for 15 minutes.

After a 15 minute hard boil, turn off the heat and let the canner with the jars of jam in it set for about 5 minutes. Then using the jar lifter, remove the jars from the canner and set them on a heat-resistant surface (a couple of towels layered, a wooden cutting board) to cool for at least 6 hours. Remove the clamps, add a label, and store in the pantry. 🙂 If you want jam to use right away, save one jar back after filling them with the ladle. Let it cool and store it in the refrigerator.

I love making homemade jam. It blesses my family and is a great gift for just about any occasion because it is a gift of love.

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